New Avengers #14Review

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Mapmaker, mapmaker, make me a map.

By Jesse Schedeen

New Avengers is currently dealing with a threat to the entire Marvel multiverse. Unfortunately, the series has become a little too preoccupied with these other universes at the expense of the one we know and love. As with issue #13, this new issue devotes a heft amount of space to an alternate reality where a different version of the Illuminati fight a losing battle to halt an Incursion. As much as this material highlights the high stakes our own heroes face, it's an approach that is quickly feeling redundant and superfluous. We need more face time with the core cast as they venture into a post-Infinity future.

The main takeaway from this alternate universe material is a closer look at the Mapmakers and their role in Hickman's grand epic. They emerge as a very clear threat, but not an insurmountable one. Hickman writes a great scene with this alternate Doom that rivals the "What gods dare stand against me?" scene from his Fantastic Four run. If you needed a palate cleanser after Doom's crushing defeat in the final issue of FF last month, this will more than suffice.

The most compelling material, however, focuses on the one core cast member to receive any significant attention this month - Doctor Strange. Hickman explores the fallout of Strange's decision to embrace absolute power at the cost of his soul, taking him through a bizarre, otherworldly marketplace and forcing him to make one of the most important decisions of his career as Sorcerer Supreme. If absolute power corrupts absolutely, it should be fascinating to see what becomes of Stephen Strange in 2014.

Simone Bianchi remains on board the series, and his art exhibits the same strengths and flaws as before. His distinctive style is great at capturing the otherworldly elements and the grand tone of Hickman's writing. But his human figures and faces are too distorted and surreal, rarely conveying much in the way of emotion except, ironically, during the armor-clad Doom's big moment of defiance. That would suggest that Bianchi's eyes aren't the problem, but other areas of facial work and body language.